New York Asian Film Festival 2011 Announces Guests

It's the tenth anniversary of the

New York Asian Film Festival 2011 (July 1 - 14) at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Japan Society

And we've invited a ton of guests to our party!

We¹ve got 14 guests coming to this year's festival, ranging from directors to actors to producers. Three of them have movies that will be getting US releases (Tsui Hark¹s DETECTIVE DEE, Na Hong-Jin¹s THE YELLOW SEA and Su Chao-pin's REIGN OF ASSASSINS). Interviews with all of our guests are available, just drop us an email and we'll do our best to make it work.

And they are:

TSUI HARK - Hong Kong's greatest director, will recieve the Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award. We¹ll be screening his new film, DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME which will get a theatrical release from Indomina before the end of the year. We're also screening three of his classics, DRAGON INN (the only female swordplay movie you ever need to see), THE BLADE (his rarely-screened, feral masterpiece) and ZU: WARRIORS FROM THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN (the 1983 surrealist fantasy film that created the Hong Kong special effects industry).

SU CHAO-PIN - the one director and writer in Taiwan who has never gone the arthouse route, Su Chao-pin is wrote and directed movies like DOUBLE VISION and SILK, and he's here this year to present his Michelle Yeoh-starring swordplay movie, REIGN OF ASSASSINS, which he co-directed with John Woo. Su is relatively unknown in the West but we're trying to change that by also screening the first movie he ever wrote, THE CABBIE, based on his experiences driving a cab, and his directorial debut, the hyperactive teen sex comedy, BTS: BETTER THAN SEX.

TAKAYUKI YAMADA - one of Japan's hottest young actors, best know for his role in TRAIN MAN, CRYING OUT LOVE IN THE CENTER OF THE WORLD and Takashi Miike's CROWS ZERO, will be here to receive the Star Asia Rising Star Award. He has a big role in Miike's 13 ASSASSINS (and we'll be showing the director's cut of the film with Yamada doing a Q&A on July 2) and he plays all three of the male leads in the bizarre, head trip that is MILOCRORZE: A LOVE STORY.

YOSHIMASA ISHIBASHI - creator of the wildly influential 2000 variety show, VERMILION PLEASURE NIGHTS, Ishibashi is a video artist best known for the Fuccon Family of mannequins who must deal with swinging, abduction by serial killers and satanic possession. He's here with his first feature film, the eye candy freak-out, MILOCRORZE: A LOVE STORY.

TAK SAKGUCHI - Japan's only stuntman/action choreographer/actor/director, Tak Sakaguchi, will be here with his latest movie, YAKUZA WEAPON, which he choreographed and stars in, and co-directed with Yūdai Yamaguchi. They'll also be here for the 20th anniversary screening of VERSUS, the yakuza-vs-zombies movie that launched Tak and Yudai's careers.

YUDAI YAMAGUCHI - he co-directed YAKUZA WEAPON but he's best known for his classic comedies like CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL and BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL. He and Tak will be at the 20th Anniversary screening of VERSUS, the movie he co-wrote and was second-unit director on.

ARATA YAMANAKA - stuntman-turned-actor who has appeared in LOVE EXPOSURE, HELLDRIVER and in YAKUZA WEAPON as part of Tak's Action Team Zero's. He'll be here to do ridiculous, life-threatening things onstage.

YOSHINORI CHIBA - Japan's most influential underground producer, he's the man behind Sushi Typhoon, numerous Takashi Miike movies (all the way back to FUDOH), TOKYO GORE POLICE and many more.

RYOO SEUNG-WAN - a festival favorite, and Korea's great action movie director, Ryoo will be here for an encore screening of his pedal-to-the-metal CITY OF VIOLENCE, and his epic, ambitious thriller, THE UNJUST.

NA HONG-JIN - the man who saved the Korean film industry with his first film, Na will be here with THE CHASER, his already-classic thriller, and his latest movie, fresh outta Cannes, THE YELLOW SEA.

LEE JOON-IK - the King of the Korean Box Office, Lee is the director behind KING & CLOWN, still the highest-grossing Korean movie ever made. His new film is a satire of Korea's endless medieval wars, BATTLEFIELD HEROES, and when it under-performed at the box office he retired from the film industry. This is his first stop after quitting.

KWON HYEOK-JAE - a longtime collaborator, co-writer and assistant director to Ryoo Seung-Wan, Kwon is here with his directorial debut, TROUBLESHOOTER.

YEO JOON HAN - one of the few independent directors in Malaysia who aren't trying to make art films, Yeo's musical comedy SELL OUT!, finally freed from distributor jail, is one of the highlights of this year's festival. It's also a movie that almost bankrupted its director.

PETER DAVIS - the star of SELL OUT! was originally a Mixed Martial Arts coach before being discovered by a film director while working on his car. He's now one of the more popular young actors in Malaysia.

Interviews are available. To request one, just reply to this email.